Material Share Monday is coming at you a day early this week because I wanted to share this in conjunction with a self care weekend.  I LOVE using 5 Finger Breathing with my kiddos, but I also use it all the time for me.

For the longest time, I taught coping skills TO kids, but I wasn’t great at using them myself.  Then, one year, I made it a goal to start using some of what I was teaching to my students.  I was doing a series of class lessons on Mindfulness with a classroom, and I figured that if I wanted 20 children to use it, I had to really believe and know that it worked.  The first tool I really started using myself was 5 Finger Breathing.  A teacher in the classroom I taught it in told me actually that they still use it all the time today, and the lesson was 2 years ago!  Now when I teach this skill to kids, I share that I use 5 Finger Breathing all the time-in the car when I’m in traffic, when I’m waiting for a meeting or appointment I’m getting anxious about, when my kids won’t stop crying…All the time!

I created this visual for my office and students but am sharing it today.  See it here.

Do you use this tool?